Lead Me Back To You
by Daelena
Summary: When Archie and Emma have a fight, Emma is led back to where she is meant to by with the advice from an unexpected source. Archie/Emma relationship. Emma/Mr. Gold friendship.


Lead Me Back To You

_Disclaimer__: No ownage here._

_Summary__: When Archie and Emma have a fight, Emma is led back to where she is meant to by with the advice from an unexpected source. Archie/Emma relationship. Emma/Mr. Gold friendship._

_Here I am again, writing another "Once Upon A Time" story, focusing on Archie and Emma (Archmma? Emchie? Arma?). I'm working on the pairing name (so, any help and advice on that would be lovely)._

_Having watched "Skin Deep," I had this idea nagging at me and I thought that it would be an interesting story to write, since Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold is becoming (however gradually and unexpectedly) a sympathetic character for me. I don't know if anyone else agrees with me, but I find that he is an interesting character and is well-played by the magnificent Robert Carlyle. Any agreements out there? Disagreements?_

_Anyways, enough prattling on by me – you didn't come here for that! As always, let's get this show on the proverbial road._

Emma sniffed heavily, trying valiantly to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall. It was a losing battle, but she hoped that she could hold back the tears until she was in the safety of the sheriff's office (where no one else was around to judge her for crying).

She silently cursed herself for purposefully building up a hard exterior. It made it all the harder to show her true emotions and boy did she ever want to let them go now.

To be perfectly honest, as she thought about it, Archie's argument was perfectly valid.

Regina, as Henry's legal guardian and legal mother, had every right to keep Henry away from Emma. Even though Emma was the biological mother, she had signed away the rights to her only child the minute she had given him up for adoption. Emma regretted that Henry had gotten to Regina and she wished that she could do something to get her son back, but there was no way she could do that.

So, when Regina had banned Emma from having any further face-to-face contact with Henry, Emma was more than pissed off. She had fumed at Archie for a good two hours about that. And then, to make matters worse, the measly half an hour that she got to spend with Henry today (a bribe that Emma knowingly took, just so that Regina could get time alone with Mr. Gold) had gone by way too fast. She really missed spending time with the kid – and he did too, if their interactions were anything to go by.

And it didn't help that, upon her return to the station with Henry, Regina had fronted the bail money for Mr. Gold.

That had sent her over the edge and, when she got back home that evening, Emma had proceeded to vent at Archie. He had sat calmly, as he always did, listening to her go on and on about her frustrations with Mr. Gold and Regina, mostly Regina. She was just so upset over the fact that she couldn't spend any time with Henry and that she was missing the kid.

Then, Archie began to rationalize with her and he had the audacity to tell her that Regina could do as she pleased, when it came to who could interact with Henry (who was still a minor).

Emma was set on edge by that and she had said a few things that she regretted as soon as she walked out of the house – namely, that she had hoped that Archie would be on her side and that it would be nice if he actually tried to be a sympathetic boyfriend instead of a psychologist. Hell, she had even said that it was better when she was alone because that meant that she wasn't distracted from what was really important. She had hurt him. Emma saw the look on his face as she stormed away and it hurt her.

But she couldn't work up the courage to go back home – not yet anyway.

She huffed, trying to control her tears and ultimately failing.

In her tears, Emma didn't notice where she was walking until she quite literally bumped into someone.

She gasped and leapt back. "I'm sorry," she shot out automatically, looking at the person she had unintentionally bumped into – only to be surprised to see that it was none other than Mr. Gold.

"It's quite alright, Miss Swan," he replied, his tone as smooth as ever.

"I wasn't looking where I was going," she shot back, albeit a bit lamely. Emma looked down at her feet, refusing to meet the man in the eye. There was something about him that she knew would draw out the emotions that she didn't want to be seen.

"If I may," Mr. Gold asked, taking a step towards her, "is there something troubling you?"

There was something in his voice that was so seductive, something very alluring. But Emma heard something else there too. She heard a sympathetic and friendly tone, one that indicated that he actually wanted to be friendly to her, which was quite a surprise, given that this was Mr. Gold she was talking to and not one of the other citizens of Storybrooke that she had become friends with in the last few months.

"It's nothing," she choked out. Emma tried mightily to bury and hide her emotions, but she couldn't stop herself from sniffling. A tear slid down her cheek.

Mr. Gold saw that tear and he reached up to brush it away gently. Emma surprised herself when she didn't flinch from his touch.

"Miss Swan, I find that there is something wrong when a young lady like yourself cries for no apparent reason," he told her. "Now, what is the matter?"

She steadied herself with a breath. Was she really going to spill her heart to Mr. Gold?

"I – I'm just frustrated with the Mayor," she slowly admitted, "and Henry isn't allowed to spend time with me unless Regina allows it. To top it all off, I said things to make Archie mad at me and now I don't know if he'll forgive for the things that I said to him." Emma thought that it was odd that she was revealing these thing to Mr. Gold, but she found that, once she started, she couldn't stop herself. "I've lost my connection with my son and I've driven away the one other person that I love."  
>Emma saw something cross Mr. Gold's face, something that she had not expected to see, especially not from him. She saw the bitter pain of understanding. Her interest was piqued, despite herself.<p>

"Ah yes," he said. "Words said in anger can always hurt those we love. I know that feeling all too well."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"How could you possibly know what that feels like, Mr. Gold?" Emma asked, sarcastically, her pain and tears subsiding.

Mr. Gold chuckled. "A fair question, Miss Swan. Come, sit down, and I'll explain everything to you."

He indicated a nearby bench to her and Emma found herself following him. Once they were comfortably seated, Mr. Gold drew a sharp breath. Emma could tell that he was reliving old memories. She knew the look on his face very well.

"So, what _is_ your story?" she asked, after a short silence. Emma was genuinely interested into this rare moment of insight into the mystery that was Mr. Gold.

"Would it surprise you that, once upon a time, a long time ago, I too had a son and that I lost him. He was so precious to me. I loved him more than I loved myself, but I lost him, a combination of the needs of the country and my own selfish desires to see him safe and protected." Mr. Gold's face was grim now and Emma could tell that he was telling the truth. No one could lie when they had _that_ look in their eyes. "And, years later, I met someone who saw past my guilt and my greed and saw me for the true me. She loved me for that and, in my fear that my love for her would ruin everything that I had built for myself, I pushed her away, when she was only trying to help me. I regret that decision every single day." Mr. Gold gave Emma a sad, sidelong look. "Does that remind you of any one, Miss Swan."

Again, Emma found herself looking at her feet, contemplating what was going on.

Mr. Gold wasn't lying to her. Emma was very good at picking up on when people were lying to her. It was that particular sixth sense that told her that, despite all of Sidney Glass's intentions and the things that he had told her, she had to be wary of him, simply because of the amount of time that he had spent under Regina's thumb. And it was that sense that, no matter what, Henry would find a way to be in contact with her and, despite the shit that went down between them, Archie honestly did believe the very best in her.

Emma gulped. "You know, Mr. Gold, if you didn't play your games, I would say that you were a decent human being after all."

He laughed at her comment. "I would agree with you, Miss Swan, but I do like my games."

"Well, we can't all be perfect. What did happen to the woman who loved you?" Emma asked, finally.

Mr. Gold shrugged and she knew that something bad had to have happened to her because he didn't want to share it. "Who can say?" he admitted. "Things change. People change and places change."

"You are very right." Emma gave Mr. Gold a calm and honest smile.

"Will you be going back to your Archie?" he asked, moments later.

Emma nodded. "Yeah, I am." Something inside of Emma changed and, when she looked back to Mr. Gold, she saw him in a new light. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked, interest in his eyes and in his voice.

"For reminding me that why I'm staying in this town."

He gave her a little smile as he rose from the bench and gave her a little bow. "Always a pleasure to be of service, Sheriff. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be going and you have a psychologist to win back."

With that, Mr. Gold turned and walked away.

Emma watched him go.

Then the realization hit her. She just had a civilized conversation with Mr. Gold. Emma didn't know how much of his story she could believe, but she got the feeling that he was genuinely trying to help her and Archie out. For that, she truly was grateful.

After a little while, she too rose from the bench and quickly made her way back to home, back to Archie, where she stood on the front porch for a good five minutes, mulling over the conversation that she had had with Mr. Gold and thinking about how it applied to her life in particular.

There were similarities between the two of them, if Mr. Gold was right, but Emma found that she could learn from someone else's mistakes and trying to make her own life better.

Which was why, when Archie opened the door, the bashful psychologist gave her a little smile and she apologized for being an idiot. He pulled into the house and into a tight embrace, followed by a kiss, which then led to a long discussion between the two of them, but Emma knew that she and Archie would be stronger for this.

And later, she had to admit that Mr. Gold did give good advice.

_So, this went into a little bit of a different direction than I had originally thought, but I realized that, based on the Rumpelstitskin/Mr. Gold dynamic we saw in "Skin Deep" could apply to something that happened between Archie and Emma. Odd, I know, but it was an interesting concept to pursue._

_What did you all think? Like? Dislike? Please let me know._

_And I will attempt to have another Archie and Emma story posted as soon as the Muse decides to give a good stoy._


End file.
